I have asked myself this question so many times in the past. Am I
prepared to deal with a medical emergency with one of my potbellied
pigs...are YOU prepared to deal with an emergency with your potbellied
pig? I have always hoped that I was, and I guess I indeed was,
physically, just not mentally, not today...I didn't expect my emergency
to be George. It's 2 AM and I can't go to sleep. I am still shaking.
My heart is so heavy and sad. I wasn't prepared for it to be George.
I was sure it would be Chuckles who we would lose this year. He was
given 3 to 10 months to live back in January of '06. He is still doing
great. Riff, our pig with Spina Bifida, is having some bowel issues
(poopie farts). We think he might have intestinal cancer. But George,
our always healthy "piss-ant", I wasn't ready to lose him tonight.

I came home from class around 9:30 PM. I took the dog out to go potty
and heard one of the "boys" making a funny sound outside. It was cold
and rainy, who was outside and why? I found George scrunched up inside
his outside house on the ramp, sitting and holding his leg up. He was
nearly pounding his head on the wall. I knew right then. I knew in my
heart we were going to lose George tonight. Was I prepared for that,
"NO WAY". was I prepared to seek medical treatment? I can answer that
with a, "yes". Did I have everything I needed in order to get George
the medical attention he needed right then? Yes, I did. I was ready
for that.

Chris and I pulled out a crate large enough to fit George.
Getting him in it was not easy. He could not stand or walk, and he was
in a very hard spot to get at. We called UC Davis and asked what we
should do. We described his symptoms. could not stand, pushing head
into a corner, nearly banging his head into the corner, raising his
right foot in the air, almost pawing at the air, and his snout was twisted
significantly to the left. This doesn't seem real... I can't believe
George is gone, as I am typing this. it's not real is it? George had
a massive stroke, or some other type of neurological "event". We decided
to take him to UC Davis, but after talking with them and our dear friend
Carol, who is an animal communicator (she rushed over at 11:00 PM to
be with us), we realized George was too far gone. He was not going to
recover from this. Whatever occurred to him tonight was massive, and
he was suffering significantly. We made the decision to take him to
the 24-hour emergency animal clinic to have him euthanized.

continued below...

Once we got to the clinic the vet gave him a very large shot of Valium
to try to relax him. George was stressing and fighting everything, he
needed to relax. She said that in dogs and some animals, large doses
of steroids could help if it were indeed a stroke. Did we want to try
this? Would that be fair to George? Money was not the object, but
letting him suffer and not be 100% George, wasn't fair either. We
called UC Davis back, and spoke to the vet on duty at 11:30 PM. After
talking with her we made the hard decision to let George go. Her
comments that strokes were rare in pigs but other neurological
disorders that occur this quickly, were not. I asked her directly if
they had had luck treating these kind of quick onsets that were this
massive and her honest answer was, "no not really". The entire time we
were outside talking to the vet at UC Davis, George was struggling and
suffering inside. Carol was with him, thank goodness. Once we made
the decision to let him go... George calmed down immediately. I
didn't. I wasn't prepared!! George was supposed to be the pig that
would out live them all. He is GEORGE, the "Piss-Ant" damnit!

When the vet gave him the cocktail to put him under so they could
administer the euthanasia solution, he went into respiratory distress.
This shouldn't have happened. The "event" must have affected that part
of his brain. She was able to administer the euthanasia solution and
we lost George at about 1 AM. I wasn't prepared to lose George!! I
WASN'T damnit!! I'm shaking, crying and confused. this isn't real. He
is in our garage right now. It's cold tonight so his body should be ok.
I want a necropsy done. I don't want George to die without leaving a
legacy. I want us to learn from him, I know he would want this too.
So tomorrow, I mean in a few hours, when it's light, we will take him
up to UC Davis to find out what killed him. I will ask for his ashes
back. I'm not prepared to lose him completely. I'M NOT PREPARED!
(Initial results of the necropsy show no "gross lesions". We are
awaiting more tests results. Dr. George thinks it might have been some
kind of toxic ingestion, a plant or something. However, we have no
plants that are toxic in our yard at all.)

I'm not writing this to ask for your condolences. As a matter
of fact please don't feel like you have to respond to this email. I know you
are all thinking good thoughts for us right now. I'm writing this at 2 AM to
share George's life with you and to ask YOU, "are YOU prepared?!" Are you prepared
to drag a screaming pig that can't walk into a crate? If there is just one of
you at home at the time of the emergency, can you call on someone else to help
at midnight? Do you have a crate large enough to get your pig into? How are
you going to get the pig AND crate into your vehicle? Together they can weigh
a lot, nearly 200lbs or more. Do you have a vehicle to transport this large
crate? Do you have a 24-hour emergency vet who will treat your pig? Euthanize
your pig if need be? Have you checked with them first? What will you or the
clinic do with the body? Do you want the ashes back? Have you made contact with
a cremation company that can handle pigs? Can you and will you have a necropsy
done? PLEASE DO! It is so important to learn as much as we can about these wonderful
animals we live with. Find out if your vet can and will do a necropsy? Then
please share the results with www.duchessfund.org.
Do you have the finances for all of this? I made arrangements with a mobile
vet locally who does nothing but home euthanasia for Chuckles when his time
comes, we are prepared for that. But I wasn't prepared for George to have this
happen to him. I wasn't prepared mentally, but I guess in re-reading this article,
I WAS prepared for this emergency physically.

So please, celebrate George's life, and if you are not prepared, PLEASE,
PLEASE get prepared NOW, because this will happen to you. I didn't
think this would happen to us, not tonight, not now. George was the
"piss-ant", he was going to live forever. I think I better try to go
to sleep now. I will dream of George and TS Piggliot, playing on the
Rainbow Bridge, or should I say knocking each other silly. Good-bye my
sweet, "piss-ant" George, I miss you already. I love you!